New facilities are being built for the Ottawa Charge at the Canadian Tire Centre in advance of the team’s inaugural season in Kanata, the Ottawa Senators said at a media event Thursday.
This summer, the city’s women’s professional hockey team announced it was leaving the arena at TD Place to play at the CTC starting this fall.
“We’re building out a campus for the Charge in (what used to be) a storage space. It’s a brand new area of the building for them to have their own dedicated locker room, lounge and facilities. We’re super-pleased to have them playing here,” Chris Phillips, vice-president of business operations for the Senators, told OBJ Thursday, adding that the new facilities will include a locker room, equipment room, stick room, player lounge, gym facilities, coaches’ offices and treatment rooms.
Work on the new Charge facilities has been ongoing in the off-season.
When the Charge’s move to the CTC was announced in July, Cyril Leeder, president and CEO of the Senators, said the arena’s facilities would be changed to accommodate the Charge.
“One of the key drivers of the agreement was the PWHL really wanted to have a permanent home and a campus here in the building, so that work is underway,” Leeder said in July.
By moving to a larger venue, the Charge hope to attract more fans and corporate sponsors, although some fans have expressed concern about the franchise’s move to Kanata.
Work is expected to wrap on the Charge facilities by the beginning of the season in November.
Other changes to the CTC
Following feedback from season ticketholders, the CTC is modernizing some of its spaces with a renewed focus on fan experience. This includes a new fan deck at the 300-level, which will be general admission.
“That is certainly the feedback that you see in all major sports is making more social spaces available for the fans,” Phillips said, adding that there will also be a new section of club seats at the 200-level.
Phillips also announced that some restaurants will get a face lift.
“Some of the restaurants and premium spaces are getting some aesthetic improvements. Bert’s is getting renamed, rebranded and redone. We’re basically doing a full gut job on that restaurant,” he told OBJ.
“We are working closely with Aramark. They really helped us look at these spaces and think about, ‘How can we improve them? How can we … get food in their mouth, drinks in their hands as quick as possible, not waiting in lines so you can go back and enjoy the action?’” he said.
While work is progressing on a new arena at LeBreton Flats, Phillips said it’s important to take care of the Canadian Tire Centre until the move downtown happens.
“We’re in the entertainment business and a big part of that is the fan experience. We want them to have the best experience possible, right from when they get to the arena to when they go back home. We’re looking at areas to improve the ingress and egress after the games, parking … some technologies that might speed up the ticketing process and some of the payment options at the food and beverage stands.
“We’re just investing back in the arena. It’s a 30-year-old building that needs some love. The arena downtown is not going to be built in a year. There’s still a few years minimum to go and we want to be sure that anytime somebody comes here, they have the best experience possible,” he said.
Phillips added that all updates to concessions and seating should be completed by puck drop on Oct. 8.
